Box Score
Photo Gallery (photos to view and purchase)

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell volleyball team fought back from an opening set loss to defeat Siena, 3-1, this evening in Newman Arena at the Cornell Invitational. The Big Red's first tournament of the season continues tomorrow as Cornell takes on Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 11 a.m., followed by a match against Lamar at 7 p.m.

After losing the opening set, 19-25, the Big Red found its grove and went on to defeat the Saints, 25-23, 25-23 and 25-19 to earn its first victory of the season.

Kelly Hanson led Cornell with 12 kills on 25 attempts with just two errors for an impressive .400 hitting percentage, while Alice Cope was perfect, collecting seven kills on 14 attempts with no errors (.500). Deveney Pula also chipped in eight kills.

Setter Jordan Reeder ran the offense, handing out 29 assists, and sophomore Sydney Campbell gave the Big Red some key minutes and tallied seven assists. A trio of Cornellians registered double-digit digs, led by Risa Ka'awa, who posted a team-high 21, and Pula and Reeder, who added 11 digs apiece.

Siena (1-3) was led by Sarah Sivertson and Brianne Bobo with 15 and 10 kills, respectively, while Elizabeth Ives handed out 37 assists and Lesli Akeo tallied 35 digs.

The Big Red struggled early in the first set, allowing Siena to build a 6-2 lead before using a 9-6 run to pull within a single point at 12-11. The Saints responded with the next four points, however, three of which came off kills by Sivertson.

A kill by Cope ended the run, but the momentum was short-lived, as Siena blew the set open with an 8-2 rally before taking the opener, 25-19. Still, Cornell scored five of the final six points in the set, a sign of what was to come for the remainder of the match.

For the second straight set, Siena jumped out to an early lead behind the strong serving of Elizabeth Ives and Sivertson, but the Big Red capitalized off a Saints' service error and a bad set, coupled with a kill by Cope to knot the second set at 4-4.

Siena built another small cushion, leading 8-6, but a kill by Madeleine Przybyl, followed by a block from Przybyl and Hansen tied the set at 8-8. The teams traded points to 13-13 when a kill by Janel Forte and a service ace by Erin McCarthy gave Cornell the 15-13 lead. The Saints fought back, however, and the score would be tied five more times down the stretch before an attack error by Bobo, blocks from Forte and Cope and a kill by McCarthy put Cornell up, 24-21. A Big Red service error and a kill from Bobo made it a one-point game, but Cope ended the set on a kill to give Cornell the 25-23 victory.

In the third set, both teams got off to a strong start with seven kills accounting for the first nine points of the contest as Cornell built the slim 5-4 lead. The Big Red went on to take a 9-5 advantage thanks to a service ace from Ka'awa, a kill by Hansen and two errors by Siena.

That four-point cushion proved to be crucial, as Cornell used it to cruise to an 18-14 lead. From there, the Big Red went on to score the next three points, pushing its advantage to 21-14, thanks in part to kills from Przybyl and Hansen.

The Saints answered with a 6-2 scoring run to cut Cornell's lead to 23-20, but a kill by Forte brought the Big Red to set-point. Siena scored the next three points to make it a one-point game, but Reeder gave Cornell the 25-23 victory with a kill.

The final set started out as another evenly matched contest with the teams battling back-and-fourth to a 6-6 tie early on, but Cornell went on a tear and earned five unanswered points to take the 11-6 lead. During the run, the Big Red got a pair of kills from both Alessa Cekauskas and Hansen, as well as a block by Hansen and Przybyl.

Cornell slowly stretched its lead to 20-10, but had trouble putting the game away as the Saints fought back to make it a 24-19 game before a kill by Pula gave the Big Red the victory in the match.